To obtain quality painting of exterior surfaces of a vehicle body, dust, lint and other particulate contaminants must be removed from the body surfaces just prior to painting these surfaces. Previously, dust, lint and other particles have been removed by machines with various brushes and manually wiping with a tacky cloth the portions of the body missed by the brushes or by manually wiping the entire body with tacky cloths. These prior approaches are costly, not uniform and typically leave a significant amount of dust on the body.